Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

ACCESS

(We now have greater access to God through the Lord’s resurrection).

From: AbideinChrist.com

Believers have “access” to God the Father through the Holy Spirit because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

“Access” (prosagoge) comes from two words ago meaning, “to go,” and the preposition prosmeaning “toward, facing.” It is a leading or bringing into the presence of another person, and denotes “access.” The idea is to have freedom to enter through the assistance or favor of another.

The word is used in Romans 5:2; Ephesians 2:18; 3:12. The apostle Paul used the word to picture God’s grace as a place of safety for the Christian. The believer has a permanent safe refuge in which we now live in the rich experience of God’s saving grace (Rom. 5:2). “We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.”

We have obtained as a permanent possession our introduction by faith into the grace in which we stand and exult in glory.

The verb proago means “approach” or “a drawing near.” The apostle Paul writes we both have our access in one Spirit through Christ to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). All three persons of the Trinity share in the work of the redemption. It is “through Him [Christ] . . . in one Spirit to the Father.”

It is God’s eternal purpose in Jesus Christ our Lord that “we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him” (3:12).

The Holy Spirit leads or brings us into the presence of God. We have freedom to enter through the assistance or favor of another. The word was used to introduce a person into the presence of the king, the place where a ship docks or “landing stage” in a safe haven or harbor. The ship would have access into and rest in a safe haven. We have entered through the atoning death of Jesus Christ into the permanent unlimited favor of the haven of God’s infinite grace.

The apostle Peter used the root verb prosago, meaning “approach, drawing near” when he wrote “in order that He might bring us to God.” He said, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

We now have an entree into the presence of a holy God on the basis of the saving work of Christ. Jesus declared that He alone is our access to God. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). The apostle Peter issued an invitation to all a the end of a sermons saying, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Abiding Principles and Practical Applications

1. Because of God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ we are acceptable to Him and have assurance that He is favorably disposed toward us. The sole basis of our acceptance with God is the death of Jesus Christ for our sins.

2. Because Jesus came and died as our substitute and by means of that death for our sins and His resurrection He literally became the Door by which sinful people can come into the presence of God and abide with Him. It is the “new and living way” (Heb. 10:20), and it is “through Him we . . . have access . . . to the Father” (Eph. 2:18; 3:12).

3. If we are believers we have the right to enter God’s presence in prayer, and worship with confidence that He will receive us and answer us.

John 10

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Resurrection: He Is Risen, Indeed!

By: Laura Bagby, CBN

Easter Sunday. To many it means the Easter bunny, a day of food and celebration. For some it is an obligatory church-attending holiday, after which life goes on as usual.

How sad that we have so quickly forgotten the true meaning of Easter. Our God reigns! Jesus Christ died, yes. But even more importantly, He rose again and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father, as we say in the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus Christ literally defied death. But He did more than just a Houdini move. We “ooo” and “ahhh” over the narrow escapes by magicians like David Copperfield and others, but eventually even those daredevils will face death. Their power is limited.

But Jesus Christ was greater — He defied death FOREVER. Jesus Christ lives and reigns for eternity, whether you or I believe that fact or not.

And He has reclaimed life for all those who believe in Him. This is the second miracle of Easter. Through God’s work on the cross, we have access to eternal life as well:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘ The righteous will live by faith’ (Romans 1:16-17).

If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Romans 10:9-10).

Whosoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven (Matt. 10:32-33).

Please consider today the wonder of God’s power and His love for you. He knows you. He knows what you have done. He knows what you are going to do. But He is waiting for your response, my friend. God doesn’t need your praise or your service to Him; He desires it. It is not what we do for God that gets us into heaven and gives us a right relationship with God. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ. Look at these Scriptures:

Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified (Galatians 2:16).

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works